A second transgender woman who worked
as a prostitute has been shot in Memphis, reports 24 News, a
local ABC affiliate.
Leeneshia Edwards remains in critical
condition after being shot at close range around 5AM in south Memphis
on December 23.
Investigators say Edwards was shot in
the jaw, side and back as she was turning to get out of her car and
is currently undergoing multiple surgeries at “The Med.”
“I just hope when she wakes up she
can remember who it was,” says Nicole Holliwell, Edward's cousin.
It was just last month that the
shooting death of Duanna Johnson, 43, another transgender female
prostitute, made headlines nationwide. A video of Johnson being
degraded in jail at the hands of Memphis cops and ultimately beaten
down when she ignores their “he-she” taunts was widely circulated
on the Internet in early 2008. Two officers lost their jobs over the
incident, and Johnson returned to the streets, where she was shot on
November 10. Memphis cops say they have no solid leads in the
murder.
Edwards was last seen about 4AM at CK's
Coffee Shop on Union Avenue in midtown Memphis.